Finally started trimming and rolling rear.

XJAbuzer · 08-16-2006, 02:07 AM

Well, I cut it to the pinch welds and rolled it the rest of the way on the passenger side wheelwell.....

I used a baseball bat to roll the metal up like so.....

...and flattened out the rough areas with a ball peen hammer. The baseball bat really worked well. I made relief cuts at the corners if the contuor. Keep in mind the pic with the bat was taken before I had started tapping the lumps down. I think it came out pretty sweet.

Sorry for the ****ty pics...my cellphone does not take pics well at night. I will get some better ones later. I plan on doing the other side tomorrow because I have the day off. I did this today after I got off work.

olds442 · 08-16-2006, 02:16 AM

looks good, im gonna try the bat thing when i do mine

XJAbuzer · 08-16-2006, 03:36 AM

Thanks.

When I stuck the bat in there I just rolled the bat repeatedly to get the effect and use a hammer to get it the rest of the way. The paint will chip when you roll it.

XJAbuzer · 08-17-2006, 03:09 PM

OK, here is a rough step by step on how I rolled up my rear wheelwells......

First and foremost, I would like to apoligize about the pic quality. Cellphone pics.

This is what the fenderwell on a 2000 XJ looks like after fender flare removal....

If you look closely, there are little dimples in the metal. These are pinch welds that weld the outer skin to the underside. Do not cut past these welds or you will have water and mud come inside and also weaken the strucure a little. Here is a fuzzy pic of the pinchwelds...

Step 1: Tape off anything you dont want to damage with sparks. Be careful as to where you kick the sparks because they will put pits in your windows. I ran the tape just below the pinch welds and used the tape as a guide for cutting.

Step 2:Get your right angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and safety glasses, because the cutoff wheels can do this...

...and if your eyes are exposed, you can imagine what could happen, not to mention all the metal that will be flying around, you cant enjoy your Jeep when your blind.

Take the grinder and cut along your marked line....like so.....

Be careful around the corners not to bind the cutting wheel or it could explode. Make several cuts at different angles to get around the corner.

Step 3: Remove all the tape and paper and drink a beer.

Step 4: Make some relief cuts at the corners like this.......

I made 3, as you can see. You could make as many as you feel comfortable with. Keep in mind these cuts go above the welds so they will need to be tack welded or filled somehow. The less cuts the better IMO.

Step 5: Get an aluminum baseball bat and wedge it in between the tire and the fenderwell and roll the bat repeatedly against the metal to get it tucked under as far as you can.......

This is the point your paint will chip really bad.....

Step 6: Get a rubber mallet and a ball peen hammer.....

Remove your tire and tap the metal the rest of the way until it is flat with the underside of the fenderwell, start with the mallet until its close and then finish with the ball peen...

Step 7: Tape off the area again. I ran the tape just above the fender detail line....

Now you are ready to sand the places where it chipped to remove the rough edges of the paint chips, I used an orbital sander with 80 grit paper...

Step 8: Clean the sanded area, replace any tape you may have buggered up with the sander, then primer the area.

You should be pretty happy with the results, I know I was.....

olds442 · 08-17-2006, 03:23 PM

nice writeup, different then others but seems to look like it works great

gregmondro · 08-17-2006, 03:32 PM

Looks good man!

XJAbuzer · 08-17-2006, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LivinUpXJ

nice writeup, different then others but seems to look like it works great

Thanks. The baseball bat actually saved a lot of time.

dudeinatj · 08-17-2006, 04:30 PM

Nice write up! I have the same color XJ 4 door with same wheels. I plan on doing this soon, but I plan on keeping the flares on. I have one of the rear endcaps (94-96) to put on the rear bumper. I ordered both but they sent me the right front instead of the right rear.

I already have the fronts.

XJAbuzer · 08-17-2006, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude in a xj

Nice write up! I have the same color XJ 4 door with same wheels. I plan on doing this soon, but I plan on keeping the flares on. I have one of the rear endcaps (94-96) to put on the rear bumper. I ordered both but they sent me the right front instead of the right rear.

I already have the fronts.

I dont think you would be able to keep the flares on after this unless you came up with a dirrerent way to mount them. This paticular mod does away with the mounting holes.

I traded all the plastic on the doors and my flares at the salvage yard for this..

**FitchVA** · 08-17-2006, 04:58 PM

looks good bud

dudeinatj · 08-17-2006, 05:09 PM

yes i can! maybe not cut as much, but i can keep the flare.

Keep Flares

XJAbuzer · 08-17-2006, 05:17 PM

Nice writeup. I would have done that if I liked the look of flares, but they are just a pain to me.

08-17-2006, 03:32 PM	#6
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